Beast from the East – Extreme weather in the UK

The causes, effects and responses to the Beast from the East

Beast from the East – Extreme weather in the UK

What caused the Beast from the East?

Under normal circumstances, winters in the UK are mild compared to some places on the same latitude. This is because of the jet stream, a warm air mass that travels across the Atlantic Ocean from Mexico to the UK. However, a meteorological event called stratospheric warming disturbed the jet stream – allowing cold winds from Russia to travel as far as the UK.

At this time of year, there is normally a polar vortex – a large mass of cold air – in the upper atmosphere, also known as the stratosphere. This vortex is what causes air to usually move from west to east. However, there was a huge rise in air temperature of around 50°C in an area around 18 miles above the Earth in the North Pole. Sudden stratospheric warming caused a weakening of the jet stream. This led to a change in direction of the winds approaching the UK from west to east to east to west, allowing a cold air mass (polar continental air mass) from Russia to cover The UK.

Air masses affecting the UK – source: Met Office

When the air left Siberia, Russia, it was around -50°C. By the time it reached the UK it was just below freezing, though this was still cold for the time of year. The air mass picked up water over the North Sea which resulted in heavy snowfall when it reached The UK.

The Beast from the East meets Storm Emma

Storm Emma was a weather system which originated from the Azores and travelled north to the UK. On 1st March 2018, the weather front brought blizzards, gales and sleet as it hit the cold air brought down by the Beast from the East. The Met Office issued a series of red warnings for southern England. Without the cold air, and if there were normal or average UK temperatures, Storm Emma would instead have caused wet and windy conditions.

Primary impacts of the Beast from the East

10 people died

Up to 50cms of snow fell on high ground

Rural (countryside) areas experienced temperature lows of up to -12°C

Secondary impacts of the Beast from the East

Hundreds of schools were forced to close

Thousands of schools were closed across the UK, including more than 125 in North Yorkshire and more than 330 across Kent, and hospital operations were cancelled.

Many rail services were cancelled.

British Airways cancelled hundreds of short-haul flights from Heathrow, and London City Airport also cancelled many services.

The National Grid issued a ‘gas deficit warning’ prompting fears of a shortage, but households were reassured domestic supplies would not be affected.

Nearly all train operators warned of cancellations and disruption and hundreds of flights were cancelled.

Hundreds of motorists on the M80 near Glasgow reported being stuck for up to 13 hours, with some spending the night in their cars, and others abandoning their vehicles. Around 1,000 vehicles were at a standstill, tailing back eight miles in both directions.

There was a shortage of food in some supermarkets

Drifting snow led to the isolation of a number of villages

Response

Red weather warnings were issued covering parts of Scotland, Devon, Somerset and South Wales and prompted Devon and Cornwall police to declare a major incident. The red weather warming was just the third in seven years.

Flood warnings were issued by the Environment Agency for parts of Cornwall’s south coast. Residents were told to expect tides to be around 400mm

The Royal Air Force was drafted in to help relief efforts in snow-hit Lincolnshire. Ten RAF vehicles and their crews transported doctors and stranded patients after local police admitted they were struggling to cope.

High on the Pennines on the M62, the military was called in to help rescue vehicles.

In Edinburgh, soldiers were deployed to help transport about 200 NHS clinical and support staff to and from the Western General Hospital and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Premium Resources

Please Support Internet Geography

If you've found the resources on this page useful please consider making a secure donation via PayPal to support the development of the site. The site is self-funded and your support is really appreciated.

Please Support Internet Geography

If you've found the resources on this site useful please consider making a secure donation via PayPal to support the development of the site. The site is self-funded and your support is really appreciated.

Cookie and Privacy Settings

How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our site functions. You can block or delete them by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visist to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Click to enable/disable Google Webfonts.

Google Map Settings:

Click to enable/disable Google Maps.

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Click to enable/disable video embeds.

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab.